Headline: MANILA- Chinese drills tense up South China Sea anew
(UPDATE) CHINA will hold naval exercises in the South China Sea on Saturday, its maritime authority said, after a week of recrimination from Western powers over its military ambitions across the Pacific region.
The exercises, set to take place in the sea less than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) off the coast of south China’s Hainan province, come as the United States leads warnings over China’s growing military and economic presence in an area spanning from the South China Sea to the Pacific Islands.
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“Military exercises will be held and entry is prohibited,” the Maritime Safety administration said in a statement Thursday, warning that an area of roughly 100 square kilometers would be closed off to maritime traffic for five hours.
China routinely conducts similar drills in waters near its shores, with an exercise in another area of the sea near Hainan scheduled for next week, as well as multiple others along the country’s eastern coastline.
But the latest exercises come as Beijing faces a growing chorus of warnings from the United States and Western allies over its naval ambitions, which critics say are a beachhead for a wider attempt to change the regional balance of power.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday accused Beijing of raising tensions over Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
“Beijing has engaged in increasingly provocative rhetoric and activity like flying PLA aircraft near Taiwan on an almost daily basis,” Blinken said in a speech, referring to the People’s Liberation Army.
He also called for efforts to counterbalance China’s “intent to reshape the international order.”
Blinken’s comments followed verbal sparring between Beijing and Washington over President Joe Biden’s promise to defend Taiwan if attacked by China, made on the president’s trip to the region earlier this week.
China has in turn vowed to defend its national interests over Taiwan, warning Washington not to “underestimate” Beijing’s resolve and capabilities on the issue.
Meanwhile, governments including Australia and New Zealand have sounded the alarm this week over leaked documents that appeared to show a plan to build broad security cooperation between China and the Pacific Islands.
But China has said its cooperation with Pacific Island countries “does not target any country,” and rejected claims that it is pressuring small states into security agreements.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a claim disputed by several nations, including the Philippines.
As tensions heat up again in the waterway, senators in Manila expressed support for a plan of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to extend the Philippines’ 23-year-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, said the US-Philippine alliance must be strengthened since developments in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines, are moving at a fast pace.
Marcos had told US Chargé d’Affaires Heather Variava during a meeting on May 23 he is considering re-signing or extending the VFA.
The pact, signed on May 27, 1999 by Thomas Hubbard, representing the US, and then Foreign Affairs secretary Domingo Siazon Jr., lays down the guidelines for the conduct of American troops temporarily assigned to the country. It also allows unrestricted movement of US vessels and aircraft in the Philippines.
The incursions by Chinese vessels in Philippine waters have long been one of the irritants in relations between Beijing and Manila.
Marcos affirmed last Thursday his administration would never cede a millimeter of its territory to any country.
In 2016, the United Nations Arbitration Court rejected the “historical” claim of China over most parts of the South China Sea, including the WPS.
Lacson said the Philippines should not only strengthen its alliance with the US but also with Australia, Japan, Canada and the European Union to ensure a stable and peaceful South China Sea.
Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, underscored the need to review the VFA with a view to making it fair to both sides.
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In 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte scrapped the VFA only to change his mind after a meeting with then US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
In a related development, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) bolstered its interoperability with Indonesia’s Directorate of Sea Transportation (DGST) and Japan Coast Guard (JCG) through the holding of joint maritime drills in the waters off Makassar, Indonesia.
During the Regional Marine Pollution Exercise 2022 held on Thursday, the PCG, DGST and JCG conducted search and rescue, firefighting, and oil spill response training to test, evaluate, and improve their maritime capabilities.
The biennial exercise is part of the 1981 Sulawesi Sea Oil Spill Response Network Plan Agreement.
At the closing ceremony on Friday, Makassar Mayor Petahana Danny Pomanto thanked the PCG and JCG for participating in the exercise.
Pomanto said the training will be of great help in preventing oil spill incidents, and that the DGST can provide the services needed by Makassar near the Sulawesi Archipelagic Sea Lane, a key waterway for international shipping.
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